monroe



w. K. MONROE.

CAR UNLOADING APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 23, I915- {rn 1 1 96, 1 34. Patented Aug. 29,1:116.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

4 HIS ATTORNEY.

' ENVENTOR WITNE5S:-

W. K. MONROE.

CAR UNLOADING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT'23, l9l5. 1,196,134.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

6;, ms ATTORNEY W. K. MONROE. CAR UNLOADING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILEDSEPT-23. 1915.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' INVENTOR BY fi HIS AT-ToRNE WITNESS:- Q QX UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

WILL K. MONROE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE BROWN HOIS'I'INGMACHINERY COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION.

CAR-UNLOADING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILL K. MONROE. a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and Stateof Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-UnloadingApparatus, of which a clear and exact description, with referencestherein to drawings that accompany and make a part of thespecifications,'is hereinafter fully set forth.

The invention belongs to that class of mechanical instruments forunloading gondola or open-top railway cars, in the operation of whichthe loaded car is first raised, within a tower-like structure, to apredetermined point, and then, overturned upon and along the mouth of achute which leads to a vessel or other receptacle below, and,thereafter, the load being thus discharged, by a reversal of theprocess, the emptied car is lowered to the base of the tower, fromwhence it is moved outwardly to make way for another car and load. Mostapparatus of this class is characterized by an L-shaped cradle toreceive and sustain the car during the operative cycle, which cradle isalternately raised and lowered under the joint, or resultant effect oftwo oppositely related motor forces, namely, one, consisting of a ropeand sheave system actuated by a hoisting engine, and, the other, of alike system,

actuated by a counterweight, the two systems being severally applied tothe cradle, and exerting their principal pull, at opposite sides of thesame. As is manifest, the primary tendency of each of said forces, asapplied, is to elevate the particular side of the cradle, where itsforce is principally applied, and, inadvance of the other side, and,therefore, toward overturning said cradle around such opposite side ineach case. In consequence, a secondary and overturning movement of thecradle, around its upright member or side, may be brought about, at anytime, by simply stopping the travel upward of said side, under certainconditions, while the motive force at the other or inner side of thecradle is allowed to continue with its normal hoisting and overturningtendency. A reversal or overturning of the cradle and its loaded car,has been effected heretofore in this manner by locating stops atpredetermined points in the path of travel of the vertical membersSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 23, 1915.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Serial No. 52,188.

of the L-shaped cradle, in order that when these stops are encounteredby said'members. they will arrest any further travel upward of that sideof the cradle, and, at the same time, serve as pivots around which,under the influence of the force applied to the other and opposite side,the cradle will necessarily overturn. Several undesirable efiects andconditions, however, are found to attend any sudden stoppage of theupward travel of the cradle in an apparatus of the kind in question, bythe interposition, as described, of fixed obstacles or stops to suchmovement, without at the same time cutting off the hoisting force.Besides a necessary slowing up of the machine, as the cradle approachesthe stops under the circumstances named, the shock due to the cradlesencounter with. the stops, is necessarily severe. and the reaction fromthe same is injuriously felt throughout the entire structure. So, too,the lifting power on the stopped side of the cradle, being still exertedagainst said obstacles to the normal and initial degree, all partsinvolved are subjected thereby, to no purpose, to, and are kept under amaximum strain and tension during the dumping movement that ensues.

It is the design of the present invention to remedy the undesirablefeatures above re: ferred to, in prevailing types of car-unloadingmachines to the end, in particular, that the stops above referred to maybe d one away with entirely, and the cradle and load in the car carriedby the same, may be brought up within the tower structure to any desiredpoint for discharge and there overturned, without any undue shock orstrain during the process, or without serious waste of motor energy.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is an end view of a car-u nloading apparatus, or'tipple, where the overturning point of the cradle isfixed. Fig. 2 is a like view, where the overturning point is adjustable.Fig. 3, is a sectional plan through the lines a. a, in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isan enlarged end view of the so-called pan-girder, and associated partswhen the cradle (indicated, in dotted lines in Fig. 1) is in overturningposition and is latched against descent in such position. Fig. 5 is asectional plan view, through the lines I), Z), in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is anenlarged end view of said pan-girder and parts, (indicated in dottedlines in Fig.

2), when the cradle is in said latched position. Fig. 7 is a similarView to Fig. 6, with the cradle at its normal position, and unlatched,and, Fig. 8 is a plan of the latchengaging block on the cradle-pin.

In said figures, 1, represents a framework tower-structure, and 2 theusual L- shaped cradle therein. As will be understood by those familiarwith the art, the loaded car is brought in onto the cradle, and, isrestrained thereon through all the subsequent movement for the purposeof raising, overturning and returning the car to normal place, byvarious familiar means, and appliances, most of which are plainly shownor indicated in the drawings.

No detailed description of the apparatus is probably required other thanof the principal or special parts, or features which concern theinvention herein claimed, and which chiefly contribute to its operativevalue. These, for the most part, are as follows: Somewhat within thevertical portion 3 of the tower-structure 1, along and interiorly ofeach side thereof, are oppositely related pairs of guide-angles forminga guide or track 4, to receive sliding trunnionblocks 5, on the ends ofpins 6, which project laterally from each side of the upright mem-- berof the cradle 2. In the form of the invention disclosed in Fig. 1, theusual'pangirder 7, is permanently located across the outer face of saidvertical portion, and at the predetermined height for the overturn.

- of which ropes leads to its own motor forces 11 and 10 respectively,are indicated as fastened to the cradle pins 6. The counterweight ropes9 extend, from their several clevises, attached to the cradle-pins,'as'said,

upwardly to and around sheaves 13,'at theopposite corners of thetower-structure, .to the traveling counterweight 11 on the exterior faceof said structure opposite the cradle. The engine-ropes 10, likewiseextend, in the usual course, from their clevises,

upwardly to and around sheaves, at the top of the tower, downwardly, toand around sheaves on the horizontal member "of the cradle, upwardly,again, to other sheaves at the top, and, thence, downwardly to the drumof the hoisting engine below.

At a point, in the downward path. of travel of the counterweight 11, islocated a stop 14 for the same, to arrest any further upward pull by thecounter-weight upon the cradle. The points for the location of the stopsmust, of course, vary, in particular cases, according to the relationsto and connections of the rope 9 with the weight 11, and the cradle 2,but in very case, such point must be at the place in said path, at

The clevises of the counterwhich the weight arrives when the cradleitself, under the joint hoisting action of weight and engine reaches theend of its upward travel and place for overturning.

To guard against a descent of the car in its inverted position, somespecial provision is desirable, and, in the figures, one form of such aprovision is shown. It is in the form of a flat-casting or latch 16,pivoted, near its lower end at 17, to the ends of pan-girder 7. Saidcasting is held, in a normal advanced position around its pivot, bymeans of a spring-connection 18, anchored to the pangirder. Thetrunnion-blocks 5 are enlarged throughout their length, on the sidesnearest the pan-girder, into cam-like protuberances 19, to engage thelatch as the cradle approaches the dumping point.

The lower portion of the blocks are. recessed from the protuberances 19,to correspond with the contour of the upper end of the latches 16 (Figs.6 and 7), which latter' carry projections or lugs at their inner ends,to bring up against limiting blocks or stops 26, located on the girderfor the purpose. Near the upper end of the vertical member of thecradle, at suitable distances from the cradle-pins to encounter thelatches 16, as the cradle returns to the normal, and shift said latchesaround their pivot and thereby release the same from their engage- .mentwith the trunnion-blocks 5, are 'secondary latch-actuating blocks 20. Arelease having been thus effected, the cradle is free to descend, alongthe guides 4, to its normal place in the tower.

Under certain conditions, in the operation of a machine of the kindunder consideration, it becomes desirableto change the height at whichthe dump is to be made. The variation in the level of tides, or in thevessel itself, under its growing load, are familiar instances oroccasions for this need, and, I have, accordingly added an adjustabilityof this nature, to the device already explained, by the features setforth in Figs. 2, 5, 6 and 7. To. this end, the pan-girder 29 instead ofbeing fixed at some predetermined point in the tower, as is the girder7, is made movable, up and down in the same, by so arranging that thegirder is supported, at its ends, by and upon vertical screw shafts 21,which fit into corresponding nuts 22, located at the ends of the girderfor the purpose. The shafts are threaded to an extent corresponding withthe limit for the travel of the cradle, in any given 1 situation, andare connected up with the means, as the pan-girder, and consequentoverturning point for the cradle, are adjusted from one point toanother, by the rotation of the threaded shafts 21, the stop 28 to thefurther descent of the counterweights 27 will also move up or down to acorresponding extent, and, that the necessary relative distance of thesame, for the due arrest of the counterweight 27, will al-- ways hemaintained. Of course, the means. just shown for thus insuring acorrespondence of movement between the adjustable pangirder 29, and thestop 28 for the. counterweight 27, may be varied without therebydeparting from what is intended to be claimed herein; any suitable meansfor obtaining such a correspondence, as, for instance, by substitutingfor the rope 24 and its connections, a shaft and gear to effect amovement of said stop in unison with the movement of the pan-girder 29,will equally be within the invention.

Having thus described said invention, what I claim. and wish to protectby Letters Patent is 1. In a car-dumping apparatus, the combination witha cradle, guides for directing the vertical and pivotal movement of saidcradle, a hoisting drum, and a cable connected therewith and with bothsides of the cradle, a cable attached to the outer side of the cradle, acounterweight on said last mentioned cable, and a stop at a suitablepoint in the path of the counterweight to ,be engaged by saidcounterweight when the cradle has been raised to a predetermined heightin said guides by the joint hoisting action of said drum andcounterweight, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a car-dumping mechanism, the com-' b nation, with atower-structure, of opposltely related guides thereon, a cradle having avertical and a horizontal member slid ably mounted in said guides, meansfor applymga hoisting force to said cradle upon its horizontal member, acounterweight system adapted, normally, to exert ahoisting force uponsaid cradle upon its vertical member, and a stop at a suitable point, inthe path of the counterweight in said system, to be engaged by saidcounterweight 1n 1ts normal course, when the cradle has been hoisted,insaid guides, by said forces to a predetermined point, substantially asshown and described.

3. In a car-dumping mechanism, the combination, with a tower-structure,of oppositely related guides thereon, a cradle, having. a vertical and ahorizontal member, slidably mounted in said guides, a hoisting drum, anda cable connected therewith and with said horizontal member, a cableattached to said vertical member, a counterweight on said last mentionedcable, a pangirder movably mounted on said structure, in vertical guidesprovided for the purpose, an adjustable stop to the descent of saidcounterweight in its normal course, and means, respectively, for movingsaid girder, at will, from one point to another in said guides, andcorrespondingly, moving said stop, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a car-dumping mechanism, the combination, with a tower-structure,of oppositely related vertical guides thereon, a cradle, havingv avertical and a horizontal member, movably mounted in said guides, ahoisting drum and a cable connected therewith and with said horizontalmember, a cable attached to said vertical member, a counterweight onsaid last-mentioned cable, a movable stop, in the downward path of saidcounterweight, at a point to be encountered by the counterweight whenthe cradle has been hoisted in its guides to a predetermined point, avertically movable pangirder on said structure, and means for movingsaid girder and said stop, in unison one with the other, from onepredetermined point to another, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a car-dumping mechanism, the combination, with a tower-likestructure, of oppositely related vertical guides therein, a cradle,having a vertical and a horizontal member, movably mounted in saidguides, a hoisting drum and a cable connected therewith and with saidhorizontal member, a cable attached to said vertical member, extendingupwardly to and around sheaves on said structure provided for thepurpose, downwardly to a counterweight movably mounted on said structureon the side thereof opposite to the cradle, a vertically adjustablepan-girder, on said structure upon the other side, a cable attachedthereto, extending upwardly to and around sheaves on said structureprovided for the purpose, downwardly, below said counterweight to amovable stop on said opposite side, and means for moving saidlpan-girdervertically from one point to another upon the side where located,substantially as shown and described.

6. In a car-dumping mechanism, the combination, with a tower-structure,of guides weight on the opposite side of said structure, a stop on saidlast named side below and in the path of said structure at a suitablepoint to be engaged by the counterweight when the cradle has beenhoisted to a predetermined point, together with suitable means forautomatically locking the cradle at said point against descent duringthe overturning movement of the same, and

of automatically releasing said cradle, from said locked position, whenit has thereafter regained its normal position within the structure,substantially as shown and described.-

7. In a car-dumping mechanism, the combination, with a tower-structure,of guides thereon for directing the vertical and pivotal movements of acradle movably mounted in said guides, a hoisting drum, and a WILLMONROE.

In presence of--- I L. P. LIPPs,

C. S. MALTBIE.

